Some are questioning whether Manchester United needed him as a priority but it’s no surprise that Erik ten Hag was so desperate to sign Mason Mount.
The Red Devils have finally completed a £55million deal to bring the England midfielder in from Chelsea as their first signing of the summer.
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That’s despite the perhaps more pressing need for a new goalkeeper and a striker, but Ten Hag couldn’t pass up the opportunity to land a player he’s long admired.
The pair’s last and only meeting in the Premier League came in October in a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, but their first encounter was far earlier.
Mount was lacing up his boots as a professional for the first time during the 2017/18 season with Vitesse, and his first-ever goal in senior football came in matchweek seven at home at the Gelredome.
Coming off the bench in the 74th minute, he swept home with his first touch in the 76th to rescue a point against Utrecht, frustrating their animated manager Ten Hag in the away dugout.
It was a rare miss for Ten Hag in a rising career, which saw him appointed by Ajax two months later.
But he was no doubt keeping his eye on Mount who scored and assisted in his next two games against Utrecht, the second of which came in a Europa League qualifying play-off win.
And when he met Mount again with Ajax in March, the story was similar as Vitesse came away with a 3-2 win, which helped PSV beat Ajax to the Eredivisie title.
The Athletic claim that Ten Hag has been tracking the 24-year-old ever since, having also witnessed his talents when Ajax took on Chelsea in the 2019/20 Champions League group stages.
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Mount would go on to spend the next season on loan with Derby before making the cut at Chelsea and becoming an England regular.
A Champions League win with the Blues was the peak of an impressive career so far, but everyone in the Netherlands knew it would always come.
His former captain at Vitesse, Guram Kashia summed up how everyone in Holland was feeling.
“Man, this boy is brilliant,” he said. “At the beginning of the season, I saw him as a little boy with us at training.
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“I liked him and saw that he was a smart player, but thought he was too young. I never thought he would improve this much.
“I have seen very good talents, but Mason is the best. [Bertrand] Traore, for example, was great, but with him it went step by step in a year and a half.
“What this boy does for everyone in one season … it’s as if he suddenly improved 50 per cent.”
